Ellis Lucia, The Times-PicayuneRegistrar of Voters Dwayne Wall (left, standing) and Clerk of Court Malise Prieto (third from left) hold a ballot for Kristin McLauren-Mickal (representing Trilby Lenfant) and Keith Villere (representing Donald Villere) to see. Donald Villere is at bottom right. Board of Election Supervisors are reviewing paper ballots related to the Mandeville mayoral race held Saturday in a courtroom the St. Tammany Parish Justice Center Thursday. School board member Donald Villere beat councilwoman Trilby Lenfant by four votes in the hotly contested race.

Update 3:20 p.m.: Lenfant's campaign has released a statement from the candidate: "Today completes the second of a three- phase review system designed to ensure that the election conducted this past Saturday was fair and accurate in every way. We have received numerous calls from voters who were turned away from the polls, from those who believe they were disenfranchised, and from those who witnessed some form of election irregularity. We now turn our attention to the discovery phase, the final phase of our election review. On Monday at 4:00 p.m., I will hold a news conference to reveal our findings and announce whether I believe any irregularities, unlawful activities or errors we uncovered are sufficient to warrant further scrutiny of the election process. With a contest this close, it is important to ensure that every vote is counted, and no vote counted more than any other. Mandeville deserves fairness in the election process, and that is our only goal - to ensure that fairness."

Update 2:05 p.m.: For the first time since the election, Donald Villere has referred to himself as the city's mayor-elect.

"I have no dbout that the Secretary of State will certify it and I'll be the next mayor of Mandeville," Villere said after the hand recount concluded. After the recount, Villere remained up by three votes.

Despite the disputes over the election, Villere said he hoped to work with all councilmembers, including Lenfant, after he takes office.

However, Villere also referred to the potential court challenge to the election as "posturing" and predicted such a move would "not be well received" by the residents of Mandeville.

Update 1:40 p.m.: Registrar of Voters Dwayne Wall makes it official as the recount ends: "The official recount resulted in one more vote for Ms. Lenfant, zero more votes for Mr. Villere." A letter will be sent to the Secretary of State's Office to let them know of the changes.

Update 1:30 p.m.: Lenfant gains a vote in the hand count of absentee ballots, bringing her within three votes of Villere. Elections officials say it is unclear why the vote was not counted during the machine count election night. One of the absentee ballots submitted was torn and another was only marked faintly and either of those ballots could have been problematic, Clerk of Court Malise Prieto said. Lenfant's campaign officials have also said they intend to contest another absentee ballot in which the voter filled in the bubble next to the description of the election rather than for either candidate.

Elections officials will also consider another absentee vote as "rejected" because the voter did not sign the ballot. However, because the ballots and the form that should have been signed are separate to protect voters' privacy, it is not clear which candidate the voter selected and the rejection will not change the tally.

Update 12:30 p.m.: City Councilwoman Trilby Lenfant enfant has filed a court challenge to Saturday's election. The motion for discovery alleges that the polling location at Mandeville Elementary School opened late - potentially discouraging "several voters" who left rather than wait. The filing also said that Villere's brother, Keith Villere, had discussions with commissioners at the Mandeville Elementary polling place in violation of regulations against electioneering.

Update 10:50 a.m.: The Board of Elections Supervisors has just finished comparing the list of voters who cast absentee ballots against the voter rolls. No changes to the vote yet. They are now verifying that the ballots have proper signatures from the voter and witnesses or a notary.

The St. Tammany Parish Board of Elections Supervisors has started a recount of absentee and early votes in the Mandeville mayor's race.

St. Tammany School Board member Donald Villere was declared the winner in the race Saturday by a four-vote margin. In the aftermath of the election City Councilwoman Trilby Lenfant, Villere's opponent, asked for a recount due to the razor-thin margin.

On Tuesday, elections officials certified Villere as the winner with 1,372 votes to Lenfant's 1,368.

Both Clerk of Court Malise Prieto and Registrar of Voters Dwayne Wall have said they have never had to conduct a recount during their time in their offices.

The recount, being conducted at the St. Tammany Parish courthouse, is likely to come down to 10 absentee votes that were determined to be blank or invalid. Prieto, Wall, representatives of both candidates, a governor's appointee and representatives of parish Republicans and Democrats are going through the ballots.